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TBS and their amazingly annoying interstitial commercials

kottke.org — Time Warner is frightened of the DVR. Here's video of the interstitial commercials that TBS is inserting into their programs in order to route around DVR use. A character comes on the screen, "pauses" the Family Guy, and talks about some other TBS show.

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  • mikeini, on 06/04/2008, -11/+68its funny you mention this because this happened to me too and i'm on Comcast. I also think its especially lame since the show has been peppered or rather pitched like none other during TNT's coverage of the NBA playoffs.. you couldn't escape it! Even the commentators would make jokes about it.

    i mean really.. really? is this necessary anymore. ok we got it ... this show is coming back. why arent you doing it with Tyler Perry's show then? oh wait.. PEOPLE WATCH THAT ONE!
    • Branchex, on 06/04/2008, -2/+111I think they are referring to Time Warner as the owner of TBS, not as the cable provider.
      • quomen, on 06/04/2008, -15/+20Don't Digg this down idiots. He's right.
        • ThreeDee912, on 06/05/2008, -2/+10Clicking on the +32 diggs current shows he is not being buried at all... (+32/-0)
        • fxspec06, on 06/05/2008, -2/+7Sorry for comment hijack, but THEY JUST DID IT AGAIN! RIGHT NOW 1!! >_< Grrr someone at TBS needs to DIE. *****
    • samoan27, on 06/04/2008, -0/+14There's nothing funny about it.
    • Conwaysb0718, on 06/04/2008, -1/+91People watch the Tyler Perry show? really?
      • slayerab, on 06/05/2008, -2/+18Black people...
      • soulkitchen, on 06/05/2008, -0/+10The who show?
        • davewashere, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3That black guy whose only gag is to dress up as fatter black people, especially older women. I have yet to figure out the appeal.
    • PhantomChicken, on 06/04/2008, -0/+34They do have one for Tyler Perry... Only instead of the pausing the show the character just stares at you from one corner of the screen... this can be traumatizing to small children and drunk people...
    • fencehopping, on 06/05/2008, -1/+10Really? I'd rather watch 30 min. of those ads than 30 min. of Tyler Perry's god awful show.
      • jbham184, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3Yeah, me too, but I think the reason we are mad is because we are watching a completely unrelated show and don't want to be bothered by some stupid ad taking up half the screen. If you watch his god awful show, you are choosing to do so.
    • themastersb, on 06/05/2008, -2/+5I thought TBS was called Peachtree now or am I just behind?
      • gfunk84, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8Only in Atlanta and anywhere using the Atlanta feed.
    • colledgegrad, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7No one watches that Tyler Perry show. It's horrible.
      • Neiby, on 06/05/2008, -0/+10I've never even heard of it until now. I guess that's a good thing.
    • TeamBaldwin, on 06/05/2008, -0/+12Happened to me last night during Family Guy as well. Easily the most obnoxious thing I've ever seen on my TV.
    • balatus84, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6I also noticed this, and I plan to write TBS about it. I urge everyone else to do the same, and here's why: nobody will complain, other networks will pick up on this and it will become normal. Changing the channel will no longer work.

      I don't know if they pay any attention to people writing in, but perhaps if they get enough backlash they'll pull the ads and nobody else will be willing to try it. It's either that or let them get away with it.

      TBS contact info for anyone who wants to write them:
      http://support.tbs.com/ics/support/default.asp?dep ...
    • MasterPain, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I just noticed this the other day when watching a movie on tbs that it had some annoying fashion advice crap before all the commercials, When I flipped to the other USA it had something similar. Who the ***** wants to watch that ***** if I want to watch a movie I want to watch a movie not what not to wear. Commercials are bad enough.
  • mjsteinbaugh, on 06/04/2008, -1/+145Additionally, I've noticed stations running text advertisements at the bottom of the screen that don't go away after a brief period. For example, NBC has been plastering their shows with an ad for Nashville Star right next to the peacock logo. Give me a break.
    • Zarokima, on 06/04/2008, -17/+7G4 has been doing that for a while, though I notice lately there's been less of it (thankfully).
      • tehrich, on 06/04/2008, -2/+39Buried for watching G4.
      • KMartSheriff, on 06/04/2008, -3/+21***** G4 . They killed the only worthwhile Tech channel (TechTV). Now it's a bunch of ***** 14 year old jokes and douchbags that make funny voices over video game characters. Even the best they have to offer, Code Monkeys, is terrible.

        Yes, I am still very bitter and pissed off.
        • slezzzter, on 06/05/2008, -6/+1TechTV? Bah. That was just killer of ZDTV. I spent way too many evenings watching 'Call For Help with Leo Laporte' marathons.
    • Conwaysb0718, on 06/04/2008, -1/+27agreed, SNL is bad enough without a ***** ad permanently stuck to the bottom of the screen.
    • Fragalishus, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I've started removing stations that do this from my remote. I removed TBS from my remote 2 months ago. This way I can't watch TBS by accident. I'd have to manually enter the channel number.

      I thought about doing a blog post or something, but didn't want to give them the time of day (and end up making even more people look at their stupid ads). But since someone got the ball rolling I'll throw in my 2 cents. Do what I did and write in and tell them.

      What really pisses me off about it is that the show I'm watching has already been paid for by the advertisers. TBS shouldn't really give a ***** if anybody actually watches the ad or not. They got paid for it either way. And all the annoying ***** ads they run during the shows are ADS FOR SHOWS ON TBS. So they're basically taking money from the advertisers then giving themselves free advertising during the show. Free advertising that's annoying the ***** out of their viewers.
      • locke2002, on 06/18/2008, -0/+0Removing those channels from the remote sounds like something I'd do. If you can do without TV series, or at least wait to watch them until they're on DVD, you might be able to ditch the TV and get a Netflix subscription. It's been 8 months and I don't really miss the TV. I only watch things I actually want to watch, rather than trying to find something, anything to watch. With the extra time I don't waste on ***** TV shows wishing something better was on, I spend more time reading.

        My humble suggestion anyway...
  • No13Baby, on 06/04/2008, -2/+346Why do they hate their customers so much?
    • IanPR, on 06/04/2008, -1/+80-customers
      +slaves
      • jriggs420, on 06/04/2008, -9/+7wtf dude..it's ->s/customers/slaves/;
        • nuclearwasted, on 06/05/2008, -8/+4"Don't Digg this down idiots. He's right."
    • ISurfTooMuch, on 06/04/2008, -2/+139I think you're misinformed. Viewers aren't their customers; advertisers are. Viewers are just the peons whose eyeballs the networks sell to the advertisers. Viewers are a commodity.
      • dvicklund, on 06/04/2008, -4/+15Hm, now that you mention it, I DO feel like a whore!

        Thanks, Time Warner!
      • crimson117, on 06/05/2008, -0/+13Except that you usually have to pay for cable stations like TBS.
        • ISurfTooMuch, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6Yes, you do, and that does make you a customer, in a sense. However, the advertisers give these channels much more money than viewers do through their cable and satellite providers, so the viewers are badly outspent.

          In the case of the broadcast channels, viewers don't pay anything, so they aren't customers in any way, shape, or form. They're simply seen as eyeballs to be sold to advertisers.

          But back to cable for a moment. You may be a customer in the sense that part of the money you pay your cable or satellite company goes to the channels, but you're still being held hostage in the sense that you can't choose which channels you do and don't want. In fact, that's what scares the providers about a-la-carte programming. If people can pick what channels they want, then many won't get the viewership and advertising revenue they need to stay afloat. I can see the logic in this, but I don't feel much sympathy for those poor media companies. And facing the possibility of extinction might force them to consider other delivery options, such as netcasting, something I'd love to see happen.
        • Supurcell, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1But you should feel sorry for those niche channels with smaller viewerships. There are people who those programs appeal to. Maybe not all of them are for you, maybe none of them are, but there is a small chance that some day they might have a show that you might like.

          Pretend that you're the owner of a diamond mine. There are very few diamonds compared to the tons and tons of worthless rock, but you have to pay to remove the rock before you can remove the diamonds.
      • AngelBunny, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2that is so depressing yet so true :'(

        this is why I download the shows. the ads are cut out. i hate those friggen ads.
    • neo1513, on 06/04/2008, -5/+16Its not that they hate their customers, but what most people fail to realize is that the only reason broadcast television is around is because of advertising. Without advertising, visual media in America wouldn't exist. DVR is basically tearing down the whole system. I'm not saying that obtrusive advertising is right, but these kinds of steps are understandable from cable networks that are afraid of the future.
      • geekofweek, on 06/04/2008, -1/+11If the only reason that broadcast television (and in this context I'm assuming broadcast television encompasses cable television) is around is because of advertising, then I would assume that the money from their customers (that they don't hate) goes to worthwhile charities and public parks.
        • heyu, on 06/04/2008, -3/+2You're paying for extra content. If you don't want a bill then stick to over the air channels and the only way those stations make money is by selling ads.
        • geekofweek, on 06/05/2008, -1/+4and by extra content I assume you mean television programing, like they one that was interpreted by the ad
        • neo1513, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4Geekofweek, your comment makes it sound like the motivation for furthering the television was public good, clearly the motivation was profit, but that is unrelated to the point. All I'm saying is that the whole tv and cable tv infrastructure is afraid of DVR because it essentially attacks the source of money.
      • Tomchei, on 06/04/2008, -0/+7The terminology in the business is that the commercials are the content and the program is the filler.
      • DephexTwin, on 06/04/2008, -1/+15TBS is not a broadcast channel, it is on cable.
      • Tenlow, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7I've always hated that there are advertisements on my cable TV. I pay 30 some odd dollars a month (not counting internet) for my cable, and I expect to get something for that. If I have to watch more advertisements than usual, I want a reduction in my monthly rate.
        • yunus, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2Your monthly bill "supposedly"(used to when cable first came out) pays for the delivery of stations to your TV not the content of those stations.
      • linuxpenguin, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1DVR isn't tearing down anything. First of all, the only reason the DVR can detect most commercials is because of the stupid ***** they do to make the ad get your attention (ie, making the ads louder than the show). Second of all, many ads slip through. Third of all, no one's stopping them from selling subscriptions, paid downloads, etc.
        • blahtastic, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3I haven't had a commercial detecting VCR/DVR in quite awhile, I thought the channels told the electronics companies not to do that anymore?

          Love my DVR 30 second skip button though. Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, oops one too far *presses 10 second back button*. Nothing gets through that.
        • linuxpenguin, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1@blahtastic: Yes, this is true. But the technology isn't illegal. You can build your own DVR (with a PC and TV tuner card) which has automatic commercial detection and skipping. One such project which is capable of this is called MythTV, available free - usually packaged with Linux, but I think it's for Windows too.

          Also, I believe there are some "top of the line" models where you do get the option to have it auto-skip commercials. Yes ReplayTV got sued to hell for it long ago, but it's not illegal to do - and these companies who sell DVRs and such often have a portion of the premium you pay going toward appeasing whatever network execs if you pay top-dollar for their commercial-skipping version.
      • RottenJalapeno, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1So I guess its worth it... without advertising we wouldnt have the great tv shows like American idol, the simple life, and flavor of love!
        Easy solution:
        Stop watching TV
      • locke2002, on 06/18/2008, -0/+0I'd love to spend around 25 dollars a month on the actually GOOD content (a la netflix?) instead of paying 50$ for 95% ***** content, 2% commercials, and 3% good content. If the broadcast TV medium disappears and all that's left are studios producing content for internet distribution and DVD sales, we'd probably be better off for it.
  • logicalnoise, on 06/04/2008, -12/+18even when I had cable I never watched TBS and now that I download everytgiung styuff rarely gets big AD bugs since a lot of stuff is recorded from canada.
    • DrCyclops, on 06/04/2008, -1/+15Oh man, Canadian TV is great, isn't it? I watched the season finale of Lost on NBC, and was horrified at the 1/3 screen popup ads that showed up about every 5 minutes.

      It really drove home why I pirate TV.
      • Tomchei, on 06/04/2008, -2/+92 hour block of Lost = 1:23 minutes of TV Show.
        A standard hour of Lost is 41 minutes of program.

        A typical half hour of Japanese Tokusatsu TV Show (Engine Sentai Go Onger -[Power Rangers]) is 25:30 minutes of program INCLUDING an opening credit with song and a closing credit with song - that which the US TV programs have done away with.
        • korvan504521, on 06/05/2008, -1/+3thats because japan doesn't do their commercials the way we do. often the commercials come after a show, rather than during, and shows don't neccessarily stick to the on the hour, half past the hour, format.
        • blahtastic, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1The doesn't do commercials the way we do bit reminded me of something.

          Back when I was little- around the early 90's, maybe longer or shorter by a bit, not sure- Nick at Nite came on at like 8 PM. In between the last kids show (probably Rugrats or some business) and Nick at night there was like a solid 10 minute block of commercials. This was always annoying as hell to me as a little kid cause I kinda liked I Love Lucy and some of the other shows as well as the obvious stuff before.

          Ok, boring story over. Now, does anyone else remember that? If you do, were there less commercial breaks because they would do random massive blocks of commercials like that?

          I'm starting to think I'd be cool with two 20 minute shows in a row and then 20 minutes of commercials. I could, you know, leave and do something else for 20 minutes, instead of having the commercials too short to go and do anything productive besides going to the kitchen and making myself fat.
      • linuxrocks2007, on 06/04/2008, -0/+8On NBC? I'm pretty sure that Lost is an ABC show and the only other network that broadcasts it regularly in Canada is CTV.
        • DrCyclops, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3Yeah, I meant ABC.

          Man, shows how often I actually watch broadcast TV. Heroes is NBC, right? I don't even know anymore.
      • spalVl, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Is it really piracy if you already subscribe to cable and pay for the content anyway?
        • AngelBunny, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3nope because piracy is only when you're selling something you don't have the rights to. downloading anything (paid or not) is not piracy unless you're selling that to your neighbors.
  • DiggLive, on 06/04/2008, -18/+13People watch TBS? What for?
  • TheDarkTipper, on 06/04/2008, -1/+187I was watching this last night when this happened. The worst part: they paused Family Guy for this ad when the commercials were going to play 5 seconds later.
    • mywhitenoise, on 06/04/2008, -1/+37looked more like 2 seconds later.
    • dvicklund, on 06/04/2008, -1/+30Not to mention that they ruined the joke. It kills the humor if someone horrifically unfunny like Bill Engvall intrudes on what you thought was going to be a funny Family Guy moment.
    • thebza451, on 06/05/2008, -2/+9"The worst part: they paused Family Guy for this ad when the commercials were going to play 5 seconds later."

      ummmmmmm that was kind of the point of the article, did you get a minute to actually read it? they did this to circumvent DVRs and their ability to skip commercial breaks, so they added the commercial in with the actual show.
      • Mononuclear, on 06/05/2008, -5/+1no you miss the point of his comment and the article. They paused the show to do their stupid advertisement of the show, and then returned to the family guy for 2 more seconds. Then after those 2 seconds there was a normal old fashioned commercial break.
      • MScrip, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2You could skip Bill Engvall too, ya know. Even though it's only a few seconds.
      • toastjam, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2I think his point was that they were in close proximity to the normal ads, not merely in addition to. So you only get 5 seconds of real programming as a reward for watching the ad, as opposed to the 7 or 8 minutes you normally get after a commercial break.
    • CaptianOlimar, on 06/05/2008, -2/+2Yeah, that was ridiculous. It certainly got my attention, but I just ended up more annoyed afterward. Hopefully this season isn't as bad as the last one, or else I'll be EXTREMELY mad that they interrupted a decent show for that crap.
  • thebuggalo, on 06/04/2008, -0/+208I caught that too. I was hoping someone would mention it on digg. I find it so ridiculous that they would do this. The 'lower-thirds' ads were annoying, but tolerable. But pausing a television show and having a 15-20 second ad play is a new low.
    • kataztrophy, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5In a few months, it will be THE standard in television advertising. As long as ESPN doesn't do it, I'll be ok.
    • neonoodle, on 06/05/2008, -3/+0Isn't the standard commercial break considered "pausing a television show and having [4 minutes of] ads play?" Yes this new method is annoying, but having 12 minutes of ads for every 18 minutes of show is kind of annoying too; it's one of the main reasons I only watch TV shows when they're on DVD these days.
      • swanny89, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4Shows write in space for commercial breaks. Its especially crucial for comedies because of the need for comedic timing, Even in the example in the article the joke was ruined because it was broken up so badly.
  • XISUPERMANIX, on 06/04/2008, -0/+56I saw this just last night while watching Family Guy. It was an ad for a crappy show, and it covers half the screen. What is funny is that someone in TBS actually thought this would attract more viewers when in fact I changed the channel about halfway through the ad and never changed back. I do like to watch King of Queens and Seinfeld and thankfully they haven't used the ad in any of those.
  • Csma, on 06/04/2008, -0/+15It is a vicious cycle, it's especially hard for broadcast television (NBC/CBS/FOX/CW) since they are "free" with ad revenue down, more cable/sate penetration people like me get fired (Production).....The DVR in combination with alienating viewers will be the death of OTA broadcasting.
  • DrDigg, on 06/04/2008, -0/+82Looks like a lot of diggers like family guy reruns. I saw it last night too. Told my wife, you have got to be f'ing kidding me. They think that this makes me want to watch this crap?
    • Jones82, on 06/05/2008, -4/+11***** thing sucks
    • mayra1201, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2if anything, the interruption makes me HATE the show being promoted. stupid advertisers
  • borez, on 06/04/2008, -2/+17I was wondering how they were gonna start getting adds into the Bittorent communities content
    • ZeNiTH456, on 06/04/2008, -0/+5Tried azureus vuze's media? I wish I never did...
      • chiefbandit2200, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2Too true... I used to use azureus, but this ***** vuze version sucks.
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6Capped eps on P2P are already edited to remove commercials; removing these new ads is barely anymore effort. You will NOT be seeing these on P2P TV eps., maybe a very brief pause at worst.
      • skoles, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Luckily TBS has paused the show for you so you can just snip it out.
  • the14thjoey, on 06/04/2008, -1/+3I, like so many others, skip commercials on a regular basis, yet I still manage to let a ton squeak by me. It's not like the ads aren't reaching the viewers.
    • FUR10N, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I wish they would stagger the commercials on all of the good channels. It really sucks because if one channel cuts to commercial then most of the others do as well, and you might as well cut the tv off for 5 minutes.


      But, the History Channel in the Classroom show (comes on history channel at 6am est) is a one hour commercial free block, it is awesome!
  • TylerM, on 06/04/2008, -17/+21My friends, it's called Bittorrent.
    • orgazmo, on 06/04/2008, -2/+7If they start pausing/talking over the original broadcast, how is the torrent not going to replicate it again?
      • DrCyclops, on 06/04/2008, -2/+6Simple: Canadian TV
      • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -1/+12Easy, by editing out the portion where they pause the show. You already have to edit out commercials, so this ain't nothin' but a thang... At worst, you'd see the guy walk on screen, and then walk off (the parts visible while the show is playing).
      • Myonosken, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Because they could get it from Canada, UK, Australia where the TV isn't utter *****.

        Actually Family Guy is on BBC over here, so absolutely no commercials.
        • TastyLamp, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2They could torrent Australian TV, but you'd have to wait a freaking year for the newest season to come. Even when it finally does, our brilliant networks interrupt weekly shows for a few fortnights. -_-
        • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1You know, we do have TBS here too.. I haven't noticed this yet though.. Haven't watched much since it became "Peachtree"***** or something...

          For some reason, its just not TBS anymore.. I hate that new format, shows suck, a bunch of the reruns i WANTED to watch don't play anymore.. Movies are alright sometimes.

          I am still trying to figure out what exactly is Peachtree TV, it seems like its not 100% TBS programming here (while it is still in the US)
    • wc3452, on 06/04/2008, -3/+9How does that solve this problem since new episodes are ripped from a DVR...
      • AngelBunny, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1eps downloaded on the net have the ads auto cut out of them.
    • MeatyMcBeef, on 06/04/2008, -7/+2My friends, it's called getting anally raped in prison if things keep going how they are.
    • hmunkey, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7The point is, if I pay for television I shouldn't get ads on the show.
  • Branchex, on 06/04/2008, -0/+125Way to make to people hate a show without seeing it.
    • Zephik, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2Yep, it makes about zero sense really. I watched the Bill Engvall Show once, it wasn't very good. But I watch Family Guy ALL the time, I LOVE Family Guy! Even the re-runs!

      So that said... this makes sense how? Not only are you ruining a bit of a good show that many people love, but you are ruining it for a show that quite frankly sucks.

      I mean sure, I understand that they get paid from commercials, not viewers. But they should still care more about their viewers than just making money from commercials! Less viewers means you get paid less for commercials, so you have to have even more commercials, which means even less viewers, which means even more commercials... Its a snowball move! It only rolls down hill and it just gets larger and larger until you stop it.
  • PATSCRU, on 06/04/2008, -0/+223I was watching this yesterday when bill engvall came out and paused my program. It's a great way to guarantee that i will never ever ever watch a second of bill engvall ever.
  • DrummerAndrew, on 06/04/2008, -0/+13I noticed this and used my DVR to show my roommate. They interrupt the show in order to NOT interrupt the show? I can't wait until June 12th so they can stop these ads.
    • KMartSheriff, on 06/04/2008, -0/+10Forgive my ignorance, but what happens on June 12th?
      • thebza451, on 06/05/2008, -0/+9i get my ps3 metal gear bundle!

        oh and i think that bill engvall guy's show goes back on the air, so hopefully the commercials stop
  • lovemaster, on 06/04/2008, -0/+74What is just as bad is the commercials which crank up the volume to grab your attention. This is especially true for Cable commercials.
    • 0rthogonal, on 06/04/2008, -1/+28In reality, they aren't turning up the volume, they are using compression to keep the audio in the upper dB range so it is perceived as louder.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_wars

      But yeah, I hate it too.
      • cast55, on 06/05/2008, -1/+4This can actually be useful - by examining the dynamic range of the audio program, it is possible to create devices which mute the audio automatically when the dynamic range is below a certain threshold while the signal level is above a certain threshold. Voila - automatic commercial muting.

        • fatwreck, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I'm pretty sure that's what VCR's used to cut out commercials during recording. Building it into your TV would be great though.
      • TastyLamp, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I always wondered why the "volume check" feature they have on some TVs never does anything.
      • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1I always thought they wanted to be dicks so that you CAN'T miss it (when you are struggling to find the VOLUME DOWN button or MUTE).

        My girlfriend tells me that its so you can hear the commercials while in the kitchen making popcorn or whatever.. so when you finally stop hearing a sound.. you know the show is back on ;)
  • Rewebbed, on 06/04/2008, -21/+2interstitial |ˌintərˈsti sh əl|
    adjective
    of, forming, or occupying interstices : the interstitial space. sharing the same space.
    • MadOtaku, on 06/04/2008, -0/+6Cool, I have a dictionary too. We should hang out or something.
  • JusticeFriend, on 06/04/2008, -14/+8TV ads SUCKS!
    • reed311, on 06/05/2008, -1/+4Yeah, but without TV ads there would be no TV. So suck it up.
    • gritta, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2* ***** tv ads SUCKS!
  • Conwaysb0718, on 06/04/2008, -4/+40Oddly enough, i paused bill engvall while he paused my viewing of family guy just so i could bitch to my wife how ballsy these guys were getting. its bad enough they take up more and more of the screen (or flashing ***** in the corner and totally blocking out that part of the screen), but now to actually force me to stop what im doing to cram in an ad is just ***** shameless. It aint a time warner issue, its a TBS issue.
    • FUR10N, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5so true about the blocking of the screen, I was watching a movie on TV and one part required subtitles but during that part an ad covered half the screen making impossible to read the subs.
    • datafeaster, on 06/05/2008, -2/+3man . . . .

      I was like thinking if like someone had been --like what if you were on a show, and then someone paused you and then

      --sorry someone just paused me !! WHOA . . . ~trippy~
      • jbham184, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6you, my friend, are very very high...
  • JBravada, on 06/04/2008, -1/+19Ah yes, but did you see Mike Myer's plug at the end? That .5 second plug doesn't look so bad after 15 seconds of interrupted annoyance.
  • D14BL0, on 06/04/2008, -12/+2It's not Time Warner. It's TBS. This happens on all providers. It's the live feed from TBS, themselves. No cable provider will edit a live feed like that, unless they want to lose TBS as a partner.

    Also, if TW was afraid of DVR, why would they sell so many of them? They're pushing it like ***** crazy.
  • Ricaud, on 06/04/2008, -8/+3Wow. First Net Neutrality and then this?????
    • GalacticXenu, on 06/04/2008, -0/+9There should be a law again this form of advertising! I'm an American, and I *slams fist on table* have RIGHTS!
      Hopefully Barack Obama will do something about this.
      • KMartSheriff, on 06/05/2008, -2/+1Xenu is American?
      • BOFH2, on 06/05/2008, -1/+5Yeah Barack Obama is really going to make sure your TV is not interupted like this. I hope you were being sarcastic.
      • datafeaster, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6YES HE WILL !!!

        he will show us a NEW WAY

        to

        CHANGE the channel . . .
    • twiztidsinz, on 06/05/2008, -1/+6Do you realize that Net Neutrality is a GOOD THING?

      The way you phrase it makes it sound like you're complaining about Net Neutrality (grouping it in with obtrusive ads)
  • jamfan2, on 06/04/2008, -30/+2yeah, this ad was terribly obtrusive and annoying - I'm dissapointed that a network actually decided to run this ad - shame on TBS!

    Also, I blogged about it here: http://www.jeffzilla.com/2008/06/obtrusive-adverti ...

    What are your thoughts?
    • D14BL0, on 06/04/2008, -0/+14My thoughts are to submit your blog as an article, not spam comments. :)
    • skinrock, on 06/04/2008, -0/+11Are you Hillary Clinton? "What are you thoughts?" My thoughts are you summarized the same ***** thing this article said and linked to the same video.
    • Louis11, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I think you should go ***** yourself. Your blog sucks anyway.
    • gooberdude, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Haha, complaining about people placing advertising being where it shouldn't be, while doing it yourself. Nice.
  • sk8bored8, on 06/04/2008, -5/+29I was livid with rage after I saw this. I'm never watching TBS ever again, under any circumstance. And i'm not joking. I wrote them a VERY angry letter.
    • BeardDob, on 06/04/2008, -14/+6Livid ? over a tv commercial ?

      ...ok

      you are actually joking right ?
    • Jforsyth89, on 06/04/2008, -2/+21Your blood pressure must be through the roof.
      • ThreeDee912, on 06/05/2008, -0/+9IT PROBABLY ISN'T BECAUSE HE ISN'T YELLING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS!!!!1!1!!
    • creole, on 06/05/2008, -4/+2It sounds like you've got FAR greater issues than a silly TV show. Anger management classes might be a good idea.
    • Ozzsanity, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6If you want to write letters I suggest writing the sponsors of the show and inform them you will not buy their product because of the aggressive advertising from TBS. Then send copies of those letters to TBS.
    • RoninMoro, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2May I see said letter? Give me some ideas on what to put in mine.
    • FUNsquatch, on 06/05/2008, -0/+0HOW angry was it?
  • zenerdiode, on 06/04/2008, -4/+25***** Bill Engvall. I don't know who he is nor have I ever watched his show. But ***** Bill Engvall. Oh and ***** "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" too. Let me watch basketball in peace.
  • boardthis, on 06/04/2008, -3/+37TBS... this is NOT "very funny"

    i think the first time i saw an ad while watching a show was for the halftime show during a football game on FOX. the marketing geniuses thought that i was more likely to watch the halftime show because their ad had james brown, terry bradshaw, howie long and jimmie johnson throwing a football to each other while laughing.

    really? pfffft
    • lbdinh, on 06/04/2008, -0/+14How do I know TBS is not funny?


      Because they have to tell you that they're funny.
      • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -1/+1Its like a Toyota Tercel with a "Sport" sticker on the door.. any car that has to a SPORT banner (from the dealer) is NOT a sports car..
  • ackack, on 06/04/2008, -12/+0Thanks for calling this to my attention, I never noticed it before.

    Of course, I can't remember the last time i watched TBS. 2007? 2006?
    • Neiby, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I remember the last time I watched TBS. It was the National League Championship Series last year. As for the time before that? No idea. TBS sucks balls.
  • wolfofwar, on 06/04/2008, -11/+1***** that.

    sidereel.com here I come.
    • jarjarwang, on 06/04/2008, -2/+6Wow... a site hosting a single weezer video! This will surely take down TBS!
      • wolfofwar, on 06/04/2008, -1/+1A site with a mass collection of full tv episodes from multiple hosts. Better then having my show paused for a commercial...
  • MrShinra, on 06/04/2008, -1/+31Well, that just made me NOT want to ever watch or find out who the hell Bill Engvall is and why
    he has a show. Congrats TBS, you just sold me on not seeing that show!
  • solid12345, on 06/04/2008, -7/+42We all hate TV ads, but as someone who works in the media industry it is a necessary evil. Trust me, these big companies don't go out of their way to piss you off for the lulz, the market is becoming more saturated with a million channels and shows they have to find some way to attract revenue.

    One of the unfortunate victims of this fragmentation of viewers is History Channel seemingly dropping anything History related and focusing on UFOs, Axe Men, and Ice Road Trucker crap

    If you really want quality TV without the ads, get Showtime or HBO, trust me, it is worth it. You get what you pay for.
    • sngx1275, on 06/04/2008, -1/+27I would love to. Except that in order to even have access to those channels I have to have a digital cable box (extended basic is the last you can get without a box here). I do have a box because I like the few HD channels that I do get. But at this point, with a 3Mbit down and 512kbit up connection I'm paying $136 a month. Its another $10 for HBO channels, then another $8 for Showtime. So I'd be paying over $150 a month at this point. I know a 10% increase in price isn't terrible, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

      If I could do a la carte channels which apparently is never going to happen I'd be happy.
      • SpeedSteamBoat, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2$136 a month for 3Mbit service and extended basic?

        Damn, I'm sorry man. This is why the government needs to start exercising a bit of monopoly law and make room for some more competition between cable/internet providers.

        Most people have little or no choice and this is what you get.
        • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1When I was younger and first started "surfing the web", I paid like 5$ for 5 hours a month of internet.. then after a few years (not that long really), I was getting unlimited internet for 14$ a month. I always thought that someday, we would have unlimited high speed internet for super cheap..

          Now that I live alone and pay the bills.. I pay 140$ (CAD) for my cable, internet and phone.. All i see now is it getting MORE expensive..
      • tankintheair315, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Dude that sucks, I think i get that all plus a 1Mbit up for like 50 dollars a month
    • MillionsLivio, on 06/04/2008, -1/+15Then they need to stop producing such crappy shows. If the shows are good they will bring in an audience. Interrupting shows and playing the same ad three times a commercial break just pisses people off and makes them intentionally never watch the show (see comments above).
      • SpeedSteamBoat, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1No kidding. The ***** of it is those ***** shows are so cheap to produce that they lend themselves to a fragmented market. Lower production costs mean you can still turn a profit with way less viewers. I mean, you didn't think all this "reality" ***** came to be because anyone thought it was any good, did you?
    • SuckMyDigg, on 06/04/2008, -0/+22You get the same 5 movies played at different times, on 14 channels all day long, every day, for a month.
    • crickey23, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1If you have satellite TV, you'd have to buy all the movie channels in bundles, which means you get all 50 movie channels for a very high price.

      I hate the way the TV companies do this. They'll bundle channels in packages that don't to fit with each other, such as music channels with child programming. If you want to get rid of one channel to save money, you have to sacrifice the channels you do like.

      I'd love to get rid of the Encore channels, but if I do, I lose Starz. When will a la carte be an option?
  • Philophobic, on 06/04/2008, -12/+2It takes a real redneck to only just now figure out how DVR works.
  • Owwmykneecap, on 06/04/2008, -6/+13Why not have no ads but a license fee.

    (massive diggs down obviously but the BBC is the greatest broadcaster out there)
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+12You mean like a cable bill?
      • tomis, on 06/05/2008, -1/+7Except regulated by the government because corporations can't reel in their greed on their own. If we're paying for cable, why are there ads? If the ads are paying for the show, what are we paying for exactly?
        • sevenalive, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4Your paying the company who has to pay to get the channels.
        • WiseWeasel, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1No thanks. The government needs to stay as far away from my TV as possible. I don't know what kind of delusion would make you think the government would be capable of offering competitive service without any competition to keep them honest.
    • gritta, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2For the ridiculous price of the BBC TV license, which provides maybe 10 channels max without adverts, I could get 100 channels or more on Sky or Virgin Media.

      TV license has outlived it's usefulness.
  • belyle, on 06/04/2008, -8/+3This is not a Time Warner isolated incident, as many other diggers noted. This happened a couple of nights ago to me on Comcast. No, it's TBS. I went to their website and sent a complaint. I suggest those of you who are also concerned about this do the same. Perhaps (although not likely) if enough people complain they will change their ways.
    • chiefbandit2200, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I'm confused... what does this have to do with comcast?
      • jbham184, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4He thinks that the original article is talking about Time Warner Cable service, but the author is talking about Time Warner, the owner of TBS. It has nothing to do with Comcast.
  • rkdotan, on 06/06/2008, -10/+4i fuking HATE Bill Engvall when he pauses Family Guy
  • ligyron, on 06/04/2008, -14/+5I don't see what the big deal is. It's just an ad
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1It paused the show right in the middle of a gag, a few seconds before the commercial break. I was pissed off as hell when this happened yesterday, and you can be damn sure I have nothing but the most negative associations with whatever show they were trying to plug.
  • fani, on 06/04/2008, -0/+12The absolute worst is on Scifi where after the show resumes from the commercial break, there are still updates for upcoming shows at the bottom with distracting chars moving around for like 5-8 secs. See stargate shows for prime example of this.
    I absolutely hated it and stopped watching it live on SciFi to piss them off.
    • BeardDob, on 06/04/2008, -2/+10Yea ... that will show them.
    • krinthekuz, on 09/16/2008, -0/+3lets think about the TV exec rationality here: "our ad revenues are down because people are so tired of watching our ads that they actually invented a box to skip these ads. so, let's give them more ads to keep our revenues up, so they hate us even more!!"

      and then they wonder why people are moving from DVRs to just downloading entire seasons of HD content. lets think about this for a second... you can get a 1080p file playable on all computers the night the show was on television (for free), or you can wait until the studio puts it on DVD (at 480i) a year after the end of the season (which after the writer's strike is now going to have been 2 yrs after the original airdates) for some ridiculous $/episode ratio.

      the stargate box set (S1-10) was one of the few sets actually worth buying. it's ~$100 in costco, so you're looking at < $1/episode, and that would take you forever to download.
  • MeatyMcBeef, on 06/04/2008, -1/+18If people would put as much creativity into their ads as the shows we'd want to watch them. Some commercials are worth watching. Also product placements work great. Ever see the episode of The Office where Kevin uses a Staples paper shredder to make a salad? Classic
    • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1I totally agree, once in a few moons, there's a really good commercial on.. either funny, or clever or actually informs me of something etc... and then I wonder, if only all commercials were this good, I wouldn't mind watching them.. even though i never get "lured" into buying stuff because of a commercial, it could still leave a good "feeling" towards the brand... not like this..

  • dreicher, on 06/04/2008, -0/+54Hey, TBS, "Here's your sign."
  • RustyJ, on 06/04/2008, -0/+46firefox needs to make a digital cable box, then have it come standard with adblock for TV. They'd be sellin' like hot cakes.
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+8ReplayTV was the name you were looking for, they got sued out of existence.
    • reed311, on 06/05/2008, -1/+12Yeah, diggers don't want television ads, they don't want web ads, they don't want to pay for movies/songs downloaded via torrent, checking a receipt at a store is the equivalent of a German officer asking for your papers and they don't like paying taxes.

  • DocGlass, on 06/04/2008, -2/+6They missed the boat 7 years ago and now they are stuck. TV is all but dead.
    • starmanfalls, on 06/05/2008, -1/+0R.I.P *****. T.V will be obsolete one day. Too bad though.
  • snotrokit, on 06/04/2008, -1/+3this is why I don't watch TBS. This crap is annoying, and runs and runs and runs. I finally got tired of it and changed the channel.
  • Crashespad, on 06/04/2008, -0/+7I look at this from 2 sides.. On one hand it's a neat concept poorly executed. It was a joking nod to DVR's, but they should have done it differently, if they had done it as the commercial break was hitting, it wouldn't have been noticed.

    But then again , maybe it was executed properly, after all your all talking about it. No advertising is ever bad.... and you are giving them a few hundred thousand eyes free.
    • ElcyionCoire, on 06/05/2008, -0/+9a few hundred thousand eyes all swearing to never lay on Bill Engvall...
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6No, it was not properly executed, because they just ensured that I would hate whatever show they're plugging with all my heart, and would make a point NOT to watch it. What was especially unacceptable was that they interrupted Family Guy right in the middle of a gag. Agreed that if it happened at the start of the ad break, it wouldn't have been so annoying, and might have caught my attention in a positive way. All they did here was piss the hell out of me.
    • DrCyclops, on 06/05/2008, -0/+6I think what you're looking for is "no publicity is bad publicity." Bad advertising is very much possible, and common. Associating your brand with a crappy ad that everybody hates will make them remember your brand, sure, but it will be forever associated with the negative emotions generated by the crappy ad. Like the Sony "black vs. white" ad.
    • Travelsonic, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2"No advertising is ever bad"

      HeadOn Apply Directly to Your Forehead!
      HeadOn Apply Directly to Your Forehead!
      HeadOn Apply Directly to Your Forehead!
      HeadOn Apply Directly to Your Forehead!
      HeadOn Apply Directly to Your Forehead!

      need I say more?
    • linuxpenguin, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I totally forgot that Bill Engvall had a show, and this doesn't really make me want to watch it. Not to mention that now, five minutes after seeing the commercial, I totally forgot what channel it was on (I see it's TBS but if it weren't for the complaints on the page I wouldn't have remembered).
    • krinthekuz, on 09/16/2008, -0/+3if ($show == 'bill_engval') {
      try { throw(new bowling_ball(), $television); }
      }
  • jgerland, on 06/04/2008, -8/+2I don't know, that looks fairly out of context to me. Is family guy normally shown with some ancient tv box frame around it? And a second after he "unpaused" it it went to a commercial for mike meyers? I'm calling shenanigans on someone but i'm not sure who.
    • WiseWeasel, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1No shenanigans. I can confirm this. They paused in the middle of the gag, a few seconds before the ad break.
    • DrCyclops, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1The TV frame is part of the show, guy.
  • KirbyMeister, on 06/04/2008, -7/+1KILL IT WITH TIRE
    • xDynaBlade, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3You'd think with 5 minutes to edit, you'd catch your mistake and fix it....
  • j4ckdotcom, on 06/04/2008, -4/+52family guy is written by manatees
  • 24imac, on 06/04/2008, -1/+50I dont have this issue with The Pirate Bay.
    • neocda, on 06/05/2008, -1/+5No *****, man. TBS is gonna wonder where their viewership went after two more years of this *****.

      Sorta like how you don't get the ads and FBI warnings when you download DVD rips. but do so when you actually pay for your product. Flawed logic, no?
      • linuxpenguin, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1No they're not going to wonder, they're just going to say that it's because of piracy (conveniently leaving out the fact that people are pirating only because of the ***** ads that TBS is working so hard to put into the cable shows you pay for, when you just paid money for the technology to take them out).

        TBS and others don't seem to realize that viewers/customers might consider their time to be worth something, and so maybe they'd rather have that extra 20 minutes thrown into their 40-minute shows to do something that's actually entertaining and/or useful. I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that I'm already paying for the shows.
    • YonicSouth, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1Amen brother!
      Lemme get this right, no ads, no BS like this, play, pause, and start whenever I want, and it's in HD. Hmmmmm, no wonder I don't even OWN a TV!
      The ONLY place to get exactly what I want (show only w/o interruption) is TPB.
  • Matt2k, on 06/04/2008, -11/+6Buy the DVD? Free is increasingly hard to support. It's kind of silly to think you are entitled to free entertainment.
    • mywhitenoise, on 06/04/2008, -2/+8Where can I get free digital cable?
      • schultzeworks, on 06/04/2008, -0/+2Peek in your neighbor's window. Just don't get caught.
      • D14BL0, on 06/05/2008, -5/+1He didn't say to look for it for free. I think you really missed his point.
        • datafeaster, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Yes, I agree. I think he meant "free entertainment", like crazy-eights or something
      • schultzeworks, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2I think you missed the joke. Or, maybe you were caught peeking and this is a sensitive subject for you. In any event, I sincerely apologize to all those (one guy so far) who took my stupid comment seriously.
        • lougoose, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I appreciate your apology, even though I thought the joke was good.
  • ISurfTooMuch, on 06/04/2008, -1/+44I just happened to surf by TBS and caught Family Guy, so I decided to watch. Needless to say, I saw the ad, but I was so shocked and pissed off that I don't even remember what it was for. Thanks to Digg, now I know and can safely avoid watching Bill Engvall, whoever the hell he is.

    Congrats, TBS, you just lost another viewer.
    • katie0925, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Bill Engvall is a Blue Collar Comedy tour who is apparently talented enough with his one bit (here's your sign) to get his own TV show on TBS.

      ...rightttt....
      • BearinG, on 06/09/2008, -0/+1Just watching the commercial, it seems the show as only a very small percentage of viewers that would be interested in it..
      • equazcion, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0It's lowest-common-denominator humor and if the commercials are any indication it's mostly recycled jokes about a dad concerned with his teenage daughter's emerging sexuality. We've all seen it a thousand times before in just about every other sitcom.
  • verivalta, on 06/04/2008, -1/+4To everyone who is saying this is not only a Time Warner problem. For the 40th time, TBS is a Time Warner company. Try reading some of the other comments before posting your own...*The more you know*
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